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Cold knowledge | King of Sweden's drink experiment: which is more poisonous, tea or coffee?

Published: 2025-08-21 Author: World Gafei
Last Updated: 2025/08/21, Communication among professional baristas follow the coffee workshop (official Wechat account cafe_style) today to introduce a story about tea and coffee. Tea has a long history in Eastern culture, while coffee first spread between Africa and the Middle East, then spread to Europe, and finally became popular all over the world. These two drinks, which are very important in modern society, are not always popular.

For professional baristas, please follow the coffee workshop (Wechat official account cafe_style)

Today I'm going to tell you a story about tea and coffee.

Tea has a long history in Eastern culture, while coffee first spread between Africa and the Middle East, then spread to Europe, and finally became popular all over the world. These two drinks, which are very important in modern society, are not always popular.

Coffee was introduced to Sweden in 1674, but it was not popular among the rich until the end of the 18th century. In 1746, the Royal Swedish edict strongly criticized the harmful effects of excessive consumption of tea and coffee on people's health and imposed heavy taxes on coffee. If taxes are not paid, the cups and plates in the family will be "recruited" by the state.

In the end, coffee is even made illegal, but there is still no way to stop the underground sale of coffee beans.

King Gustav III III, at that time, decided to do an experiment to prove that coffee is really harmful to human beings. He found two twin prisoners on death row and commuted their crimes to life imprisonment on the condition that one of them drank three pots of coffee a day and the other three pots of tea a day. The two of them must drink the same amount every day until the day they die.

King Guscalf III of Sweden

The king also appointed two doctors to supervise the experiment and reported to the king the health of the two prisoners on death row.

But unfortunately and fortunately, the two doctors in charge of supervision died before the experiment was completed, and King Guscalf was assassinated in 1792; instead, the one who drank tea died at the age of 83, and the time of death of the man who drank coffee was not recorded. Maybe he's been alive so far? Panic .jpg)

This experiment does not prove which is more poisonous, tea or coffee. On the contrary, Sweden is the top five coffee-consuming country in the world today. I wonder what King Guscalf will think of Sweden today.

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